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Could the King of Radio be making his way to American Idol? It seems so as Howard Stern confirmed on his Sirius Satellite radio show Monday afternoon that he is indeed being considered as a possible replacement for Simon Cowell when American Idol’s tenth season begins in 2011.

“There’s not a better job on the planet than judging that f—ing karaoke contest,” Stern said. “It might be possible, we’ll see,” he said, adding: “They’d have to pay me a ton of dough because I already make a ton of dough.”

This seems even more possible as Howard’s five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius expires at the end of this year. So how much does Howard need to replace Cowell? “A $100 million to judge a karaoke contest? Yeah, I would do that show for $100 million,” said Stern referring to a Fox news report that Idol would need to match his current salary.

$100 million a year salary however seems highly unlikely as even Cowell was not earning close to that.

Stern also reveals he would no longer do radio if he got the AI job, “If I do say do myself, I can’t imagine anyone else but me replacing (Cowell),” Stern said. “I mean, I don’t know. How else are they going to make that show work? Who knows how to broadcast and who knows how to be interesting? And who’s not afraid to speak their mind?”

Joe reveals he had a great time as a guest judge once he learned to be candid with the contestants about their performances.

“[I was] a little nervous at the start because I was kind of afraid I was going to hurt people’s feelings,” said 20 year old Joe to Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show Monday morning. “You have to really be honest. At first, you feel bad, because you see these people come through, and they just want it really bad. The first few, I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re great.’ Towards like five [people] in, you have to be like, ‘I’m sorry, no. This isn’t for you.’”

Joe said though some of the performances were pretty bad, there may have been a diamond in the rough. “There were a couple of people that walked through the audition room whose voices were just so different. I’d never heard anything like it,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, this guy could totally win it.’ “

Could the Semifinalists of American Idol’s ninth season have been revealed? That answer is yes according to Joesplace, who has managed to correctly reveal the identities of American Idol’s semifinalists for the last two years. He has now released the alleged names of nearly all of the ninth-season’s Top 24 semifinalists.

Four of those alleged semifinalist include contestants — Katie Stevens, Tyler Grady, Ashley Rodriguez and Jermaine Sellers — whose auditions aired last week during American Idol’s two-night premiere, from Boston and Atlanta.

This spoiler list is even more likely to be accurate because unlike previous AI seasons in which Hollywood Week occurred in the fall and ended with the final 50 contestants returning to California to learn their fates at a later date, this ninth-season’s Hollywood round took place just last week with the contestants learning their semifinalist status on Friday.

American Idol’s ninth-season Hollywood coverage which will feature the introduction of new judge Ellen DeGeneres, is set to officially begin airing on Tuesday, February 9, continuing into the following night. The top 24 semifinalists — 12 males and 12 females — will then officially be revealed on the February 17 show.

According to Joesplace spoilers, 20 of the ninth-season Top 24 semifinalists are:

Sources reveal to E! News that the the show’s producers are seriously considering having host Ryan Seacrest double up as a host and judge as the producers deal with the question of how to keep the hit show afloat since Simon announced he will be leaving after this season.

“Anything is possible,” says an Idol insider. “Stay tuned.”

It seems having Ryan replace him as a judge was Simon’s idea as he told told Extra during a Monday interview that he feels Seacrest “actually would” have interest in replacing him on American Idol’s judging panel. “I genuinely think that if he could get off that stage quick enough to go into the judge’s chair, he would [host] and judge,”said Simon.

TMZ is also reporting that people are on the set of AI are talking about Pop Icon Elton John possibly replacing Simon. Apparently Elton knowing music, having a bitchy attitude, and being British all work in his favor.

Plus according to E! News, most readers would prefer Simon’s replacement to have a British accent. As of today, Ryan, Elton and the FOX network have yet to comment on the possibility of Simon’s replacement.

Sad news for American Idol fans as Simon Cowell has confirmed he will be leaving the hit show when his contract ends after the 2010 season.

This comes weeks after numerous reports speculated the AI ‘mean’ judge would be exiting the show. Simon will judge and produce an American version of his British hit music show,The X Factor. His new show is set to debut on Fox in Fall 2011.

“Because of that this will be my last season on American Idol,” he announced Monday. “I felt like doing something different,” he explained. “I want to leave Idol this year bigger and better than it’s been before.”

In an interview with Extra, Simon says money was not a factor in his quiting the show. He said he simply wanted and needed a new challenge. The Today Show reported Simon was offered 144 million dollars to do both American Idol and The X Factor, an offer he declined.

There are also rumors that Simon is courting former AI judge Paula Abdulto become one of the judges on the X Factor. When asked about those Paula rumors, he said: “I adore Paula. Whatever happens with her, I will be working with her in some capacity because I miss her.”

Ellen DeGeneres is opening up about her new role as a judge on Fox’s hit show –American Idol. The latest season of AI, set to premier Tuesday, January 12th, will feature Ellen replacing Paula Abdul as one of the judges.

When asked about fellow judge Simon Cowell, Ellen had the following to say: “We both like each other and accept one another,” DeGeneres tells Wall Street Journal. “At the same time I think he’s mean and I think he says things in an insensitive way and I don’t think that’s the way to get a point across. I’ve called him on it to his face. I’ll do the same thing to him (on Idol).”

Ellen goes on to discuss the type of judge she aims to be. The talk show host promises to be opinionated, but can’t promise she’ll be as warm and fuzzy as her predecessor Paula. “I don’t know if I’ll be as nurturing as she is. She always found a positive thing to say instead of attacking,” says Ellen. “I’ll probably try to be somewhat encouraging. … But I’ll be honest. I don’t think it helps anybody to be encouraged and not told the truth.”

The first couple of weeks of AI will feature guest judges. Ellen will come on the show alongside Simon, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi later on in the season.

Ellen, 51, will begin her stint after the audition rounds, which will feature a rotating group of celebrity guest judges including Shania Twain, Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas and Kristin Chenoweth.

Ellen also confirmed the announcement at her talk show taping Wednesday, “I’m going to have a day job and a night job,” assuring her audience that The Ellen DeGeneres Show will continue. “This is so exciting for me.”

Former judge, Paula Abdul, abruptly announced she would not be returning to the show on her Twitter page back in August. It is said to have been due to contract negotiations. Paula felt she deserved more money than what AI was offering.